Category: Pastor's Corner

As the year closes, I think it is important to remember and thank those who have helped make this year a success. This has been a hard year, financially for you and for our parish. That’s why the Spirit of Christmas is so important and why faithful Christians can be joyous even if the economic indicators show bad times ahead. Christians, while living in the world, are called to be not of the world, and we know that economic booms and busts are just part of living on this planet. On the other hand, keeping one’s earthly life in perspective as a temporary situation while looking forward to life eternal is the entire message of Jesus Christ.

The mark of the true Christian is a willingness to give of oneself freely for the sake of loving God and neighbor. Further, the committed Catholic’s very life should be a lifelong prayer offered to God. That forces us to reexamine our priorities. We must ask ourselves, is our commitment to our faith sufficiently strong so as to make this happen? I’ve had several individuals, with a perfectly straight face, ask me from time to time to curtail the length of my Mass because it makes them late for afternoon football on TV. Football is cool, I guess (I don’t really care for it), but when it becomes so important that prayer is tossed in favor of a game, well, a good examination of conscience is necessary. The same goes for failing to honor our obligation to attend Sunday Mass each and every week. What does casually forgiving ourselves of our promise to grow in the faith say about our relationship with the God who loves us so unconditionally? Freely giving of oneself is the very mark of the true Christian.

And with that being said, I want to thank all who have recognized their Christian call to serve God and neighbor and have continued to give so generously of themselves for the sake of God’s Kingdom in the year 2008. These include our Parochial Vicar, Fr. Ridley, our two deacons, the staff, the catechists, the Finance and Parish Councils, the volunteers, the choir, the lectors, the altar servers, the Eucharistic Ministers, the Women’s Guild, the Bible Study coordinators and participants, the Knights of Columbus, those who cook and help with our monthly pasta dinner, those who have organized the Giving Tree, the Remembrance Tree, and the Christmas Pageant, our Trustees, our sexton, and our parking lot safety team. If I’ve forgotten anybody, sorry. So many helpers is an indicator of spiritual growth. And each and every one of you who come to Mass to be part of our community and contribute to the support of your parish. YOU are the Spirit of Christmas, and I love you all.

We have many plans for 2009 to make this a better parish and to be a more effective outreach of Christ’s love to each other. Wait till you see what we have planned for Epiphany! Come, be part of our gift to ourselves in Jesus’ name! Give yourself as a present to Jesus Christ this Christmas and this year by giving yourself as a gift to your parish and your family. Forget about receiving, focus on giving.

We’re delighted and thankful that you’re here.

Merry Christmas with love.

Last week, I was appalled to see the news item on the TV which described the trampling death of a Walmart security employee. In case you haven’t heard, a young fellow hired to do security work for the Christmas season found himself with the unenviable task of having to open the doors of the Long Island store at some ridiculously early time (4am, 5am, what’s that all about??) and was met with an onrush of shoppers who physically broke down the doors as soon as he turned the key and trampled this unfortunate person to death. The police arrived and cordoned off the entryway, and then proceeded to close the store, as it was now a crime scene. As the shoppers were being herded out, (herded is a good word for people who had acted like animals…) many complained that it ‘wasn’t fair’ that they had to leave, as they had been waiting for hours. Poor entitled persons were upset about being deprived of their right to shop, I guess.

Let’s see if I’m getting this straight. Looking for a bargain on stuff (for Christmas???) a mob creates a surge which damages the building and takes a life. Over his now-lifeless body they rush to be the first to get 60% off or whatever on a 50 big screen TV, (why pay more??) displaying absolutely no human compassion or care for the horrible thing they’ve just done. Then, being told that they can’t get their precious stuff, they complain that their rights have been trampled upon!

I’m writing this on Thursday morning, having just proclaimed the Gospel for the daily Mass in which Jesus, in the seventh chapter of Matthew’s Gospel, says, Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the Kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.

I’d love to interview those people who surged the door and killed that young man. I’m willing to bet that the majority of them were baptized Christians. And I’m willing to bet that a large percentage of them, having accepted Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior as the saying goes, are positive that when they die, they will be going straight to heaven, their personal behavior notwithstanding. Hey, why bother worrying about asking forgiveness for our sins and preparing for Christmas when we can have the NFL in high-definition on a screen big enough to use as a lifeboat? Too bad about the kid, but TVs are important! Now, am I the only one who sees this as a bit ambiguous? Is greed and manslaughter doing the will of God? The utter selfishness of what happened! All this to buy Christmas gifts at a cheaper price? If they were seeking Christmas gift giving items, maybe the first item they should acquire in their shopping carts is real Christianity. Let’s all learn a lesson from this sad episode: gift giving should be a sign of charity, a mirroring of the charity that God himself showed when he sent his only beloved Son to us as a gift, which resulted in our redemption. If Christ is removed from the season, this kind of Unchristian vulgarity is inevitable. May God help us to truly honor Christ in our gift giving, by giving, and shopping, as Christians.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Since I was a child, it has been one of my favorite holidays. Oh that turkey mom would masterfully cook!

In time, as she aged, Thanksgiving Dinner started to get later and later. She was beginning to slow down, and one year, exhausted to the core, she served the meal at 9PM. That was the year that I declared that Mom had cooked her last Thanksgiving turkey; it was now time to pass the torch and let somebody cook for her. She ended up passing the torch to me, which wasn’t exactly my plan… And so, thinking fast, my ‘cooking’ consisted of an invitation to mom to enjoy Thanksgiving dinner in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, at a rambling wooden country inn not far from where Norman Rockwell lived and painted. Americana at its best. And since then, my family has been enjoying Thanksgiving in the Berkshires of Massachusetts, where once again last week I found myself with those I love most doing what I love so much: spending time with my family (and eating). Hope yours was as pleasant, too! Bravo to all those turkey-cooking moms!

Now, this weekend, we put aside the turkey leftovers and begin the period of waiting called Advent. The Church asks us to slow down, and enter into a period of delicious waiting… waiting for the incredible event which is the commemoration of the birth of Jesus Christ. A time to take spiritual stock of our lives and to present a clean slate to God with a promise to do better next year by loving God and our neighbors more deeply, by putting aside past sins and entering into the spirit of conversion.

In the first reading, Isaiah pens what are among the most profound words of all scripture: You (God) are the potter, and we are the clay. Oh, how we love to be in control! How we just love to be the potter! Who needs God as long as I have me, myself, and I seems so common. Or its modern variant: who needs God as long as I have my stuff to divert my attention from my salvation?

Advent reminds us to continue the theme of Thanksgiving all the way to Christmas and beyond, by emphasizing that we await the giver of all good gifts, Jesus Christ, who has re-formed us into what we are called to be: Thankful and holy children of God, but fragile as clay: let us never forget how much we need him! Drop a clay pot, and it will break into a thousand pieces. It is destroyed. So are our souls if we beat them up and abuse them with sin. Advent reminds us of just how fragile we really are and how badly in need of repentance we are for our sins and the world’s terrible sins, especially against the dignity of human life: war, abortion, the death penalty, euthanasia, crime, starvation, and political or religious injustice, and how incredibly loving God is to us, to send his only son into the world, to take on our brokenness and raise it to the dignity of God himself through the Redemption of the Cross. Our pride tells us to deny that we are fragile, but I paraphrase St. Paul, who reminded us that only when we are weak are we truly strong, for then the power of the living Christ shines through. Allow yourself to be fragile and repentant this Advent, ask for God’s strength and forgiveness, acknowledge your sins, especially by making a good sacramental confession, and bask in God’s power to save, while we await the coming of the Christ-child.

I feel sorry for Roman Catholics who make their living in the financial professions, especially if they are also clergy, like our deacons. No, I’m not talking about the economy, I’m talking about the calendars they have to keep track of. First, there’s the ‘regular’ calendar, January 1st through December 31st. Then there’s the ‘fiscal’ calendar, July 1st through June 30th (I think…). I suppose there’s a reason for starting the year when it’s half-over for the rest of us, but why is a mystery to me. Finally, there’s the liturgical calendar, which begins on the first Sunday of Advent, in just one week hence.

But, before we can start a new year of any variety, we must first end the current one (and I’ll bet the end of 2008 is a really welcome idea for many of us!!!). This we are doing this week, at least liturgically speaking. We celebrate the 34th and last Sunday of our liturgical year, also known as ‘The Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ the King.’ This is, I feel, a fitting way to finish: by remembering that Jesus Christ is first and last, the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end… of everything.

Our readings today cause us to focus on the one thing that really matters: our destiny. While it may be a surprise to many who have not been given the gift of faith, we have been, as St. Augustine reminds us, created by God for the purpose of spending eternity with the God who loves us so dearly that he sacrificed his Son for us. Following the example of Jesus, we as Catholics can see that our earthly life is a temporary, finite, all-too-quickly-ending testing ground of charity: we are expected to use the talents God has given us to further God’s kingdom on earth by doing good works, that is, worrying less about ’stuff’ and more about our immortal souls. In other words, this life is NOT ‘all there is,’ and we will be judged by God as to how well we kept focused on God as the central Being of our existence (first and last!) and how well we proved it by the things we did and said on this side of the Pearly Gates.

The radio and TV economists are worried about the falling stock market. Retailers are worried about the prospect of a poor ‘holiday’ (gosh I hate that word!!!) season, and the banks are worried about losing their assets if they loan them out. Speaking as someone trying to keep our expenses down, I can say I’m worried about these things too: but while we’re worried about all this ‘earthly’ stuff, an old saying comes to mind: ‘Nobody will remember a thing about today a hundred years from now.’ In other words, what seems so incredibly important to us now will be a long gone memory tomorrow. Things pass and go in cycles. But, if we focus too much on mammon, we’ll forget that one and only one thing matters: our salvation. If we lose our souls over earthly stuff, we’ve made a very, very bad deal… with the devil. So, of course, be prudent with your financial decisions. These are tough times. But never forget that Jesus Christ, our King and our God, came to earth as a human being and sacrificed himself for our sakes to help us to recognize our real treasure. Because of Christ, we are royalty: and you can take that to the bank!

As you may remember, several weeks ago I published the financial reports for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2008. This week, I am required to publish the financial report of the first quarter (18k pdf file) of the current fiscal year, that is July 1st through September 30th. Rather than provide a separate cover letter as I did the last time, my comments are being included in this column.

First, and most importantly, I am very grateful that many of you read my cover letter and listened to my pulpit comments carefully.

As you may remember, I emphasized that we had the loss of some $140,000 income per year with the termination of the lease that the City of Bridgeport had with us for our school building. Ouch.

As you know, over the last several years, our beautiful church has been in need of several expensive repairs and we can thank the dear Lord that that lease was providing the buffer to keep us in repair and solvent.

Further, I noted that our weekly collection falls short some $1200 to $1500 per week, (or some $60,000 per year) over our expenses which have been kept as low as possible already.

We do what we can to save, like utilizing the smaller and less-expensively heated and air conditioned lower church for a significant part of the year, and our staff is volunteer and part-time (and in most cases our part-time employees also volunteer extra time to help keep us afloat, God bless you!).

Nevertheless, and realizing that our economy stinks right now (a technical term I learned in college economics…) I asked you to consider in your charity helping to make up the shortfall by us all doing ‘just a little bit.’

And last week you did. To my delight (and the delight of those we owe money to…) our collection was some $500 greater that it has usually been. I pray that this is not a ‘bump,’ but rather, that you have taken my words to heart and have in your love for St. Patrick’s decided to do ‘just a little bit more.’

We are all very grateful

As you will see if you look at the comparison reports that have been inserted into the bulletin, our financial situation, so dependent on the income from the school, has continued to deteriorate.

We really do have only two options, as I’ve noted before, to increase income and to decrease expenditures. To that end, and knowing what a soft economy we have, I am continuing to work very aggressively to affect the sale of the school building. I absolutely will keep you all ‘in the loop.’ Because of the loss of that income, we have steadily had to dip into our meagre cash savings to meet operating expenses, and last week we reached a ‘milestone’ of sorts: our savings dipped below $100,000. Obviously, that’s a very serious development.

We have a wonderful Finance Council here, whose help has been invaluable. Further, several parishioners have approached me with really fine fund-raising ideas. But most importantly, we need the active participation of each and every one of you.

Our parish will survive and thrive only if everyone gets involved.

So, please, come to Mass, contribute time and treasure as your means allow, and bring a friend or two who may not be participating regularly at Mass. We want them back as friends, as family, and as participants in doing God’s work here in Bridgeport. God bless you!

About the Financial Report

The following file -Click here to download (18k pdf file) - contains eight pages with the following six financial reports:

• STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL POSITION - As of 9/30/2008
• COMPARATIVE STATEMENTS OF FINANCIAL POSITION - 9/30/2008 vs. 9/30/2007
• STATEMENT OF ACTIVITIES - For 7/1/2008 through 9/30/2008
• COMPARATIVE STATEMENTS OF ACTIVITIES - For 7/1/2008 through 9/30/2008 vs. 7/1/2007 through 9/30/2007
• STATEMENT OF ACTIVITIES - ACTUAL VERSUS BUDGET - For 7/1/2008 through 9/30/2008
• STATEMENT OF FUNCTIONAL EXPENSES BY NATURAL CLASSIFICATION - For 7/1/2008 through 9/30/2008

A young lady approached Marcia last week and asked to be trained as an altar girl. I am grateful that she has come forward. Very grateful. And her request reminded me that I need to ‘put out the call’ for a new group of young ladies and gentlemen to be trained as altar servers. I have asked Fr. Ridley, our Parochial Vicar, to head this up and to do the actual training. We need to bolster our ranks of servers, because we need more depth and also, as our older servers ‘graduate’ and move on, we need to replace them. Any young person in the 4th grade on up is welcome.

We are also in need of lectors (readers) at Mass. I don’t know what it is about reading out loud in public, but lots of people get this certain horrified look on their faces when approached and asked to read. For many, getting up and speaking in public is hugely difficult. I respect that, but if none of us ever challenged ourselves, how can we expect to grow? Lectoring is a privilege and a ministry; if you are even mildly considering it, please call the rectory. Just give it a try! Believe it or not, I was for most of my younger years almost pathologically shy. It’s strange how God works: shy and introverted I was, but I also liked music, and wanted to play bass guitar. I did this for years in various bands, and getting up there in front of people playing bass gave me confidence to preach and proclaim God’s word. In other words, I got used to being up in front of people with practice over time. I didn’t say ‘I can’t do that!’ Instead I said, ‘Let’s at least give it a try.’ You can, too. God puts us into situations where we may grow little by little, usually enjoying ourselves along the way. Maybe he’s asking you to grow, too?

Several people have voiced concerns about some developments. A few have pointed out that they’d like to light candles but ‘there are none.’ One hinted that it might be a cost-cutting measure. Let me assure you that the temporary moratorium on candles is not financially motivated. It is safety motivated. Perhaps you’ve noticed that the candles come in blue plastic (which means flammable) containers. Now, I don’t know what rocket scientist thought that it was a good idea to try to contain fire inside a flammable cup, but several of those blue containers have caught fire in the few months I’ve been here. I asked our sexton to order glass containers for the candles, and as soon as they come in, we’ll be back to normal.

And several have asked about the bulletins. People are used to picking their bulletins up on the way into Mass. That’s fine, but I’ve also noticed (and from the altar we can see everything!) that lots of people are using the bulletins as ready reading material during Mass. That’s not courteous, of course. Would you bring a newspaper to the dinner table if you were invited to someone’s house? Of course not! And even more important, the homily is NOT a time to zone out: it is time to listen to God’s Word explained. I experimented with asking the ushers to hand the bulletins out after Mass, but that hasn’t worked out particularly well, either. (One person, seeing no bulletins on the table on his way in, asked if I was ‘too cheap’ to provide them) So please, take a bulletin, but please, don’t read it during the Mass. Thanks.

This morning, we had frost on the pumpkin. I took Mango, my wonder dog, out for a walk, and the grass was white with the first evidence that winter will soon be upon us. In just a few weeks, we’ll be starting the new liturgical season. Advent will be upon us sooner than we think.

And while the trees are still beautiful with fall foliage colors, we know that eventually, all those orange and red leaves will die, fall to the ground, and nature will be going to sleep. In a way, all those trees have to die before it can resurrect to new life next spring.

As the temperatures fall, it is important for us all to consider that we too, someday, maybe soon, maybe not-so-soon, will also have to do what the trees are doing: fall asleep, and appear to be dead. That will happen at the end of our lives. Sure, it will look pretty final, with our bodies buried in coffins under the ground and a headstone marking our place. But we know that all those maples and oaks are only dormant, sleeping until conditions are right for them to ‘live again.’

Now, a fool might look at an oak sitting in the woods in the middle of winter and say, that tree is dead. Look at it, no leaves. Let’s burn it up for firewood, it’s useless. And we’d laugh and say, ‘Wait till next spring.’ And our misinformed friend would surely think it was us who are the crazy ones, not him.

So too it is with our faith. Look around you, what do you see? Millions and millions of people living for just today, just for the moment, because they are like that person in the middle of the woods in the winter thinking that the sleeping tree is dead. They think that once the winter hits them, by which I mean the death of their bodies, then that’s all there is, and their life is over. But, we as Catholics know better. As the Lord reminds us, you judge a tree by its fruits, and next spring, if that oak tree fails to grow new leaves, then and only then do you chop it down and burn it for firewood. God does this with us with all the chances he gives us to reform and repent. He helps us to keep ‘green’ and vibrant as we journey through life through the graces he bestows. His grace is like the spring warmth which makes the sap flow.

We’re not all that different. There are the fatalists, who, convinced that their lives are extinguished at the moment of bodily death, make the same mistake the guy in the woods did when he chopped down the dormant but living tree. They live fast lives, speeding through life, sinning without remorse, trying to cram in more and more stuff because they’re convinced that death is THE END.

How do you live your life? Is it apparent to those you encounter each day that you BELIEVE in the RESURRECTION? Do you teach your children that priority number ONE is the salvation of their souls, and that those souls live forever? Do you ever fall into the trap of thinking that this life is all there is so you’d better live it fast and pleasurably, because tomorrow you might die? As the new season approaches, with the trees about to go dormant, think of the person in the woods who chopped down a vibrant life in its prime, because he was a blind fool, and resolve to be wiser.

Last week, we honored the Knights of Columbus (K of C) 50th anniversary with a special Mass and banquet, celebrated by Bishop Lori. It was a beautiful, successful Mass, and well attended.

Consider for a moment the purpose of the K of C. It is a fraternal Catholic organization dedicated to helping to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ and to works of witness and charity. We take care of our own through prayer, fraternity, and even insurance and financial planning, and we take care of others by speaking up for the unborn, as well as supporting priests. In a time in which the Church, the priesthood, and Jesus Christ Himself, are given far less the respect they deserve, the K of C continue to be a front-line of strength and defense of the Faith. If you are a Catholic gentleman who is not a member, let me say this subtly: you should be! Please consider joining!

This weekend, on Saturday, September 25th at 1PM at St. Augustine’s Cathedral, Bishop Lori will honor the recipients of the St. Augustine Medal for Outstanding Service. I was here for all of about two days when the request came from the Diocese for our parish nominee. Well, I didn’t know anybody yet, so I had to ask around the staff. What I kept hearing, over and over, was ‘Dee.’ After the staff weighed in with a very solid vote for ‘Dee’ (and got my wholehearted vote, too!) I am proud to announce that Dolores ‘Dee’ Cortello is the recipient of the 2008 St. Augustine Medal. Dee was one of the first friendly voices to welcome me, a vibrant member of the parish, involved in just about everything, a parish trustee, an ex officio member of the Finance Council, a fund raiser, a confidante to yours truly in making some difficult decisions, a ‘calmer of my nerves’ through forgiveness and understanding, and a very, very fine Catholic woman. Congratulations, Dee Cortello!!!

And, as I get to know you better, I see that there are many people worthy of the honor of receiving the annual Medal. We are truly blessed. To select a winner is a very difficult decision, and that’s a compliment to you, because there are so many possible candidates it is hard to choose! Way to go, St. Pat’s!

Lastly, Fr. Jean Ridley Julien has been appointed by Bishop Lori as our new Parochial Vicar. Fr. Ridley was born in Haiti and was ordained in 1996. He looks forward to getting to know everyone and to ministering to your needs. Welcome on board, Fr. Ridley! We are delighted that you are here!

May the Blessed Virgin pray and intercede for us during the month of October, which is Mary’s Month!

The following is a video Father Chip found and asked to be include here as “sort of a going away salute!”

Here is a 16 minute Homily from a 2007 Mass at Saint Patrick’s featuring Father Chip O’Neill talking with God about the “Our Father” … Be sure to check out the faces on some of the younger parishoners circa 4 minutes into the piece when the Voice of God is first heard through the congregation … the fluttering pages on the podium at the end was a happy accident and the real source of their movement is in the fan - enjoy!